EducationDaily reader Jenny Piccalo writes in to ask: “Why do teachers on TV have elbow patches?”
Good question, Jenny. It is one of those pop culture mysteries that most of us brush aside and never bother to do a Google search on. We all know the two main teacher tropes:
- Students leave an apple on the desk for their teacher
- Teachers wear tweed jackets with leather elbow patches.
But in real life, have you ever seen anyone walking down the street with leather elbow patches, let alone seen a teacher dressed that way? Of course not – but we accept it in movies and TV shows.
Are leather elbow patches just a fashion choice?
Sometimes called “professor patches,” leather elbow patches have a very practical purpose. They are sewn onto a jacket if an elbow wears out. I don’t know about you, but I have never had occasion to notice even the slightest bit of wear and tear in my own jacket elbows. Or shirt elbows, mind-you. And a shirt elbow is remarkably thinner in material.
The presumption is that teachers do a lot of elbow-to-desk resting and considerable pointing, which seemingly creates considerable elbow friction between the teacher and their garments.
These days, elbow patches are generally just a fashion choice and you will see them used to make a jacket look more trendy/hipster.
How did it become the look-of-choice for teachers?
Again, it was mostly just fashion.
Sewing leather patches on clothes became common during World War I, with German stormtroopers sewing leather elbow patches onto their uniforms for protection while crawling on the ground or through trenches. This evolved into more of a decorative function with pilots in World War II sewing leather patches onto flight jackets to celebrate accomplishments or interesting graphic design.
The more direct lineage to those in educational roles wearing jackets comes from the British upper-class going hunting and shooting.
In the early 1900s, as people engaged in hunting, wear and tear on jacket elbows was an issue. Leather was chosen, as it is a durable material that protected not just the jacket, but the wearer’s actual elbow. Tweed jackets were popular in the countryside and elbow patches were added to contrast against the colours of the jacket.
Over time, this practical fashion trend simply became a fashion trend. By the 1950s, elbow patches on jackets had been adopted by US Ivy League academics and intellectuals. They were seen as sophisticated.
